Repeated Billing Issues not welcome in store

Over the last few months, I have spent more time in your Point Loma store and on the phone with representatives for your company than I would care to count. Up until 3 months ago I had never had issue with my billing or services provided, quite the contrary rather I bragged about my services and the amazing prices. However your system works, if you type in my name or my account number and look at what it may now say about me, I imagine you may have a hard time believing that I am anything less than a pain. So please bear with me as I explain.

Issues started when my Uverse bill amount increased without any notification while I was under contract, nothing substantial, nothing I would have even noticed had I not been asked to detail my bill amounts a few weeks prior when opening an IRA. I was under the impression that while under contract my bill was a constant, so looking to find a reason for the increase I contacted your live chat service. All I was looking for was a why, but instead I was given a complete run around, which could frustrate even the most patient. The representative told me a notice had been sent out, which I did not receive, but they couldn’t tell me when. I had to ask for a notification date four times before so much as being provided with an answer. Turns out, there wasn’t a date, he couldn’t provide me with one. He then proceeded to tell me of a new promotion, when I agreed to it he told me that I didn’t qualify, as I was under a contract already. If a customer doesn’t qualify for promotion, why was it offered? Again, I felt frustrated, all I wanted was an answer and now I am being provided false promises. The representative then put his manager on, who said he couldn’t change the situation and shortly after disconnected from the chat. At the time I wasn’t even upset about the increase of fee, I had great service, it was only $8, but the manner in which my inquiry was handled upset me. All I was presented with for a reason is global increase, email sent. That didn’t answer any of my questions, and I felt it was extremely poor customer service, so I decided to go in store to your Point Loma location. Kandice helped me and she was so pleasant. All I wanted was a reason and she went above and beyond, or so I thought, and told me that she would credit the difference on this one bill since I hadn’t been made aware of the increase. Great, I thought. That same week my bank account had been compromised so I had to close it, I then went onto the ATT app to update my payment information to my new account. I thought everything was fine.

Then I receive d a text alert saying my bill was past due and a phone call saying I was being charged a late fee. When I logged in to check my account not only had the app not saved my new payment information, but there wasn’t a credit for the amount Kandice had said. This is where things started to snowball. I had one unpleasant interaction followed by a great one, only to find myself let down as a customer yet again. I decided to go in store to talk to someone and made an appointment. I was asked to wait, no problem I thought. However as I was sitting there a man who worked for ATT and had recently moved from the south asked why I was in, I told him there was a billing issue and his “professional” response was to tell me every company has billing issues. I’m sorry, that is supposed to appease your customer who is taking time out their day? That no matter who my service provider I should expect have a problem? This obviously didn’t sit well with me. After a few more moments I was helped by a women, who’s name I forget. She patiently listened to my reason for the visit, both my previous encounter and about the billing issue. It took 60 minutes to correct my payment information in the system for Uverse alone. She had to repeatedly put it, and then check to see if it saved. Another representative even came over and said that he was having the same problem. Eventually it updated and we were onto the wireless billing. We had the same trouble getting the information corrected in the system, then after looking at the bill she couldn’t figure out why there was a $25 fee, no one could as it was just a separate fee with no information. I was under the impression it was a late fee, but she said it wasn’t. She asked her manager to look at it, and he said it was because I didn’t fully pay my previous bill. When she told me this, I explained that my account is on auto pay and there is no way only part of my bill could have been paid. She assured me that it was however the case, so I pulled up proof of full payment. The fee was then corrected. I found this unsettling, why am I having to prove my payment? Why am I being told the fee is for short payment? After 2 hours in store, I left thinking everything on my account was corrected at last, and that there would cease to be anymore issues. I was proved wrong again when I received notification that my Uverse bill was delinquent.

After spending those 2 hours in store getting things fixed how could my Uverse bill be delinquent? It turns out the payment info was only updated for my wireless account and not my Uverse. This I felt, was my last straw. I had taken time out of my extremely busy day to deal with a now recurrent issue, only to have it happen yet again. I called and spoke to a rep over the phone to remedy the payment and update my account. After thinking about the situation at length, realizing along the way there was never any apology for the repeated issues or broken promises, I decided I had enough that it was time to cancel my ATT Uverse account. I went in store and they had to call the retention department, or whatever their proper name is. The woman on the phone was an absolute pleasure and somehow talked me into maintaining just my Uverse Internet Service, she was extremely kind and apologetic of the situation, and I honestly believed her. Towards the end of the conversation she added a credit of $60, I didn’t ask for it, it was willingly given and I was extremely appreciative. Flash-forward to today, when I received my new bill and saw that I was being charged a $25 Returned Check Fee, for the previous month, a fee that was incurred because of an issue on the ATT system. I was upset; I had wanted to cancel and was talked into staying only to yet have another issue. I made an appointment to go in store to talk to someone. Yes, I was irritated. I explained the situation and that I didn’t think I should be responsible for a fee that occurred because of an error within the ATT system. The gentleman helping me said that he needed to speak to his manager, Jay. He looked like the same manager that tried to tell me I paid only a portion of my cell bill when I had proof of otherwise, I had not gotten his name during my previous visit. They went to the counter and left me at the table. Not more than fifteen feet away from where I was sitting three male employees were discussing one of them cheating on their girlfriend when she goes out of town Sunday. Needless to say, this is not my idea of professionalism. Yes, I was the only customer in the store, but that is not justification to talk about personal and extremely unprofessional subject matter. When the representative and Jay came back to where I was waiting Jay asked me about the $60 credit on my account. I explained that the retentions department provided me with that when I called to cancel. His tone made it clear that he felt I was just trying to get out of paying my bill and he told me that I am no longer welcome in store to discuss any future issues I may have. I am more than happy to pay my bill for services provided to me, I am happy to do so. However, I am in no way happy to pay for fees incurred because of other people’s or system failures. Nor do I wish to take time out of my work day spend in the ATT store dealing with billing issues and overhearing what I feel are unprofessional conversations.

I apologize for my lengthy narrative, but I do not apologize for taking these issues in store to remedy them. I strongly advise providing your customers with a higher level of service. And as billing errors now seem to be common place, and I have idiotically entered into a new year long contract for internet service, I want to know where I should go or who I should call when there errors again occur?